The Baseline: Predicting the NBA award winners in 2016-17

With the 2016-17 NBA season finally here we thought we’d have a little fun and guess who could be the award winners in various categories this upcoming season. We have a hosts of names for you to chew on and debate with us about as each award is truly in question.

• Coach of the Year
  • New coaches are littered around league and we think David Fizdale, Jeff Hornacek, Scott Brooks & Mike D’Antoni might have the inside track. But you can never count out Coach Pop & Steve Kerr. Could a semi-dark horse like Brad Stevens take home the award?
• Defensive Player of the Year
  • Kawhi Leonard, Draymond Green & DeAndre Jordan are the usual suspects but Paul George and Hassan Whiteside should have plenty to say this season.
• Most Improved Player
  • The list is too numerous to mention but we touch on guys like Karl-Anthony Towns, Dennis Schroeder, D’Angelo Russell & more.
• 6th Man of the Year
  • We posted a question on Twitter about this award and the names came rolling in. Brandon Jennings, Brandon Knight, Eric Gordon, Jamal Crawford, Zach Randolph and Greg Monroe all received consideration.
• Rookie of the Year
  • With sparse opportunity for this year’s class it could be given to the guy who gets the most playing time. Joel Embiid, Buddy Hield, Jamal Murray and of course Ben Simmons draw consideration.
• MVP
  • Russell Westbrook, James Harden and LeBron James headline the list but are we discrediting Stephen Curry because he now has Kevin Durant on his team? Could Paul George or Kawhi Leonard emerge as dark horse candidates?

Tune in and give us your thoughts on our selections. We’d love to hear from you.